Building raised beds
Building raised beds is an easy and exiting exersize! Raised beds come in many shapes and there is no limit to the creativity of the passionate square foot gardeners. Mel Bartholomew, the creator of the square foot garden concept, has the whole gallery on his website.
It's hard to add to the excellent advice he is giving. The only reason I would do this is because there is a lot of advice out there, enough to lose your head and get discouraged. I have deviated from some of Mel's recommendations simply because I found other ideas more convenient.
Why even bother buiding raised beds...
... when you may have perfectly great top soil in your garden? It's because you want to use a special mix for your square foot garden, and you want no weeds in it. Good reason for a little bit of work upfront, isn't it?
Location, location...
Choose the area that gets at least 6-8 hours of sun every day. It should not be under the mature trees. If the only area that qualifies are the rails of your deck, consider hanging boxes on the rails!
Plan to have at least one-two feet for the walkways in between the raised beds. Keep them at least one foot away from the fence. You will need this to freely reach your plants.
Choose the layout
First of all, you have to decide what kind of raised beds suit your garden's layout more. The most practical designs are:
- Classic. Boxes 4x4 ft. Looks great, easily accessible for planting and watering, easy to make and maintain.
- Elaborate. Box 4x4 ft with the box 2x2 ft on top of it. Looks more sophysticated, however requires more soil and more wood to build for the same planting square footage.
- Rectangular 2x4, 2x6 or 2x8. There are two schools of thoughts, both harvesting great tomatoes in their square foot gardens. The classical school advocates using square boxes, the other school finds rectangular ones set in rows more convenient.
The depth of the raised bed should be 6-8 inches. 8 inches is more practical, as you might find it hard to mix the soil in the 6-inch deep container..
Make your boxes
There is no end to the designs one can create. I vote for the simplicity! Your plants will grow beautifully in the box, thus distracting attention from all the sweat you put into the creative designs :) It's better to take lumber 1x6 or 2x6 and make a simple frame than miss a planting season suffering from the perfectionism.
Pick any wood except treated wood as it will leak chemicals into the soil and, therefore, into your otherwice organic food supply. I selected cedar for its' durability and looks.
Build a frame. Just cut the lumber and nail the pieces together. Building raised beds may be complicated by the lack of equipment - so before you go to the store for the lumber, decide what you want and get your lumber cut in the store according to your specifications.
Find an old tarp, plastic or carpeting piece that would cover the area under your raised bed box. It will prevent whatever is under the raised bed from growing through your square foot container.
Build the dividers from the planks to separate one square foot from another. Or use my simpler idea: put a nail in the box every foot of the frame's length, and use a while nailon or cotton thread for the separation.
You are ready for the installation!
Installation
with the help of level or a glass with water, try to make the area for the square foot garden as horisontal is possible.
spread the plastic to cover the area. set the box and curl the plastic inside the box.
You did it!
Small square beds and rows are especially good for the children. When they watch their plants grow, water and care for them, they are much more inclined to try them at the dinner table! Building raised beds together can be a memorable exersize too.
Is not it amazing how simple pieces of wood put together can transform your backyard and your menu? Don't stop here, it is time for the planting mix...
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